Meissner grew up in the passenger seat of his father’s Chevy Nova, while the elder Meissner traveled the Midwest as a salesman during the 1950s. In his newest book of poems, American Compass, Meissner casts his knowing yet never cynical eye back on those times and the iconic images–Elvis Presley, James Dean–that helped shape American … Read more
Probably no one told Sarah Vowell when she was growing up that she should get into radio. With a whiny, nasally voice that sounds at once bored by the world and fascinated by the inner workings of her own mind, sheÕs an incredibly annoying anti-radio personality. Nonetheless, the woman can tell a good story, and … Read more
Mrs. Vollman–yes, last we heard, Bill was still married–must be the most tolerant woman on earth. Her husband is notorious for conducting meticulous research for his books, research that has included developing a crack habit (to understand drug addicts) and traveling for months through the world’s most unstable countries, with little access to communications and … Read more
The first stanzas of his song “Miss Fortune”–about an abandoned baby–left the musician/songwriter John Wesley Harding itching to tell the rest of the story. So he wrote an entire novel, “Misfortune,” under his real name, Wesley Stace. This elaborate and occasionally raunchy tale, told in Dickensian style, follows the baby as it is found by … Read more
Like opera, poetry doesn’t always translate well from its native tongue. Poems from the great mystic Rainer Maria Rilke, for example, lose nuance and, more notably, lyricism in the journey from Rilke’s native German to English (he also wrote a sizeable but less celebrated oeuvre in French). Rilke’s rhythmic dynamism is best enjoyed when expressed, … Read more
We’re not sure why the server offered us a cup of water to sip while we waited for our takeout pizza; the pies were already boxed up by the time we’d paid and walked over to the pickup side of the counter. With an oven running at a truly infernal eight hundred degrees, pizzas here … Read more
Through fifteen years and three locations, Sakura owner Miyoko Omori has kept St. Paul swimming in top-grade sushi. In a high-ceilinged room with expansive windows, she and her staff serve up artful takes on classic Japanese fare, drawing a dining crowd that ranges from Lowertown loft dwellers to traveling classical musicians–don’t be surprised if you … Read more
Perhaps the most pleasurable thing about Barbette is the feeling that, upon gliding through its velvet-curtained entry, you’ve walked into a French movie. A host with chiseled cheekbones guides you past a round communal table. Stained-glass fixtures in circus colors suggest the performer from which the cafe takes its name. If you’re lucky, you’ll be … Read more
Great children’s movies attract not just families, but a sizable contingent of sheepish adults with no children, which may help to explain all the rap stars who line up with Ellen DeGeneres to voice-over cartoons. But this new offshoot of M-SPIFF brings a highly intelligent selection of international children’s film to the Twin Cities, demonstrating … Read more
Hapless Ben (Saturday Night Live alum Jimmy Fallon) is a teacher whose Boston Red Sox obsession consumes his life until he becomes smitten with Lindsay (Drew Barrymore), who couldnÕt care less about the sport. Sounds like your typical romantic comedy, except that it’s based on a novel by Nick Hornby, the Helen Fielding-for-guys who brought … Read more